Iowa will reopen its economy in a safe manner and keep its meat plants running to feed the nation during the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) said Saturday.
“Iowa produces 10 percent of the food supply, and we’re a fourth of the processing. And so this is a critical and essential workforce, and a critical and essential work production capability,” she said during an appearance on Cavuto LIVE.
“We’re working in tandem to make sure that we can keep the food supply chain moving and keep America fed,” the governor explained.
Reynolds also said she was in regular contact with more than 40 state manufacturers and plants to make sure they had the equipment they needed, which included coronavirus tests and safety equipment.
“This really gives the employees the confidence that they need to feel safe in returning back to work,” she continued.
Monday, Reynolds announced further plans to reopen the state’s economy and transition out of the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, Breitbart News reported.
“In a statement, Reynolds said starting May 1, 77 counties have been identified to lessen COVID-19 mitigation restrictions. According to her, the 77 identified counties have witnessed a downward trend in coronavirus activity over the last two weeks,” the report noted.
Friday, most of Iowa’s counties began to open back up, according to Fox News.
“Restaurants, retail businesses, shopping malls, fitness centers and race tracks will be allowed to operate at 50 percent capacity. Events can be held with up to 10 people, and worship services can resume with social distancing,” the report said.
As of Saturday, Iowa recorded 9,169 total confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 184 deaths. So far, 53,186 residents have been tested for the disease, and 3,325 have recovered.
“We’ve eased restrictions in 77 of our counties and we’re seeing about 88 to 90 percent of our [positive] cases in the 22 counties that will remain under the higher level of restrictions,” Reynolds said, adding that Iowans were responsible people.
“They’re practicing personal responsibility, as well as our businesses, and so we’re going to continue to look at the data [and] monitor the virus activity,” she noted.
“We’re able to do that from a statewide perspective to a county perspective right down to a community and a zip code. So we can be targeted in our approach as we begin to reopen Iowa and bring our economy back online,” the governor concluded.